Dad Life

The Chemex. I look forward to it every day - the sound of the paper filter as I unfold it and place it in the top of the chemex. The scent of the beans as I crank the first couple turns on my grinder. The steam of the arc of water coming out of the kettle wafting in the morning sunlight. The aroma as the coffee is infusing in the water. The steady, circular motions, and the quit drip of coffee into the carafe. Then finally, raising that cup of carefully crafted goodness to my lips....

Here it is. The nitty-gritty, nakedness of how we try to be wise with money day-to-day. This wraps up a 3-part series on how sharing finances makes our marriage stronger. If you missed the first two, catch up with; How Sharing a Bank Account Makes Your Marriage Stronger and How to Enjoy Budgeting. Why does money management even matter in your marriage? Because it's one of the top 10 reasons why couples get divorced, according to Huffington Post last fall. You could almost conclude that half...

This is will be short and sweet. It's the eve of our baby's 1st birthday and I'm feeling all nostalgic. How fast can a year possibly go? Does every year go this fast?? Parenthood has made me realize a few things. I can function with less sleep than I thought I used to love sleep. I still love sleep. And as amazing as our boy is, I wish he loved sleep a little more! The...

I've been there. You've been there. I was on my first-ever solo vacation in the east coast. This was going to be a super cheap trip because I was going to camp all the way. I didn't really budget, or create any plan for that matter... I just went. Of course I wanted to hit a seafood spot or two in every province.. and camping wasn't quite as cheap as I expected. I pull my borrowed, black Toyota up to a gas station on a sunny day. I fill up my car to the...

You work hard for the money you make. At least, most of the time. Yes? Maybe you're getting married. Or you are married. Or you're thinking about it. But you want to keep your finances separate. After all, what you make is yours and what your partner makes is theirs. Yes? Plus, you want the freedom to buy what you want. Who wants to "ask" their spouse if they can buy something. Are we all 13 again?? Actually – we've realized that...

The Aeropress. An amazing, cheap coffee invention from the inventor of the Aerobie frisbee - Alan Alder. It's the incredible, unlikely heir to the coffeemaker throne of greatness. If you buy one “pro” coffee making device, make it the aeropress. It’s the easiest, fastest, simplest way to an incredible cup of coffee - every time. And no one is paying me to say that. It takes very little practice to master and provides the quickest shortcut to the most amazing cups of coffee I’ve found. Seriously...

For most of my 20's I would pride myself on being independent. I didn't need a man to start my life, to be financially stable, to have my own place or to be secure in who I was. In fact, that's still true... and I still need look to God for those things. In the world's eyes, I wanted to be an independent woman who could work hard, build stuff, haul stuff and fix stuff. And I was proud of that. Then I got married and...

Of all the small joys I find in life, enjoying coffee is what I’m asked about most. To some, it’s a necessity. To me, it’s therapy. A chance to slow down, work with my hands, focus, and craft something amazing. I have a whole post on why it's so important to me. Plus, the coffee you brew can make the world a better place – or not. Great coffee, and I mean really great coffee, has a mysticism about it. How do you make it? What’s the secret? What separates the best from the rest?...

It's a time sucker. It's depressing. It's annoying. It's addictive. This can apply to almost every social media platform out there. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to talk about the biggest platform in the world. Facebook, with it's 1.5 billion users, is hijacking our lives. First of all, it's a comparison trap. Except, it's a terrible comparison. It's a filtered, polished, see-what-you're-permitted-to-see news feed. And that's ok, because that's what it's supposed to be....

I get panic attacks. I experience anxiety. I've fought long battles with depression. Many people who know me are surprised when I say that. Why is that? Even though talking about anxiety has become more normalized, I still find there to be a stigma around men openly talking about their experience with these things. (something I would love to change). After living with anxiety for over a decade, I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't when it comes to managing it. I'll lay that out at the end –...